Counting mechanism for paring machines



' 1,616,0 1 Feb. 1 1927. G B FOX ET AL 8 COUNTING MECHANISM FOR PARIhGMACHINES Filed Jan. 28, 1926 gdwanrot George 3.7 5 a:

Patented Feb. 1, 1927.

*uurr-sn s'rarss PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. FOX AND JOE G. CHRISTIAN, OF WOLCOTT, YORK.

. COTTNTING MECHANISM FUR PABING- MACHINES.

Application filed January 28, 1926.

The object of this invention is to provide a counting mechanism andmeans for ready 7 attachment to a certain part of the operatingmechanism of an apple paring machine so 'that the number of applesplaced on the forks of the machine and pared thereby are particularmechanism for operating the counter. v Figure 2 1s a front elevatlon ofthe counter and its operating mechanism.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the counter and its operating mechanism.

In the several figures of the drawing like reference numerals indicatelike parts. Apple paring machines are operated at a rated capacity. Thiscapacity of course varies with each operator who feeds a machine.Someareslower and others faster. As long as an operator conscientiouslyperforms his or her work in operating the machine that is feeding applesto the machine as fast as he or she can, it is all that can be askedfor. In many cases, however, one or more of the operators shirk theirduty and instead of feeding apples to the machine they allow it to runidle. The paring machine operates the same whether apples are paredby itor not and the R. P. M. of each machine therefore doe not necessarilygive the output of the machine or even approximately so, and unless theoperator is watched there is no way in which the output of eachindividual operator and itsmachine can be checked as the apples afterbeing pared are placed into a common receptacle or are passed onto theslicing machine for slicing preparatory to their being dried. Theinvention forming the subject matter of. our present invention is toprovide a i counter that co-op'erates with a part of the mechanism ofthe apple paring machine so that it only counts the productive turns ofSerial No. 84,449.

this particular mechanism and ignores all other movements thereof.

The particular mechanism to which the counter and its operatingmechanism is applied is illustrated in Figure 1, and comprises therotating forks and their operating mechanism. There are at the presenttime many different types ofapple paring machines on the market but manyor all of them use similar rotating forks 1, lby means of which theapples are fed to and held against the paring knife. Two or more ofthese rotating forks are grouped and mounted on a rotating frame 2 sothat while the apple on one of the forks is presented to the paringknife the other or others are ready to receive another apple.

. The frame 2 is mounted to rotate on the spindle 3 and each rotatingfork is provided with a pinion 4 at one end thereof through which it isrotated on presenting the apple to the paring knife. The forks 1 have ahollow center in which the sliding rod 4 is mounted. This rod extendsfrom one end of the fork to the other. At the rear end the rod isprovided with the head which serves as a stop for the movement of therod in one direction. This rod is provided to expel the ,core of theapple that remains in the fork after the apple has been pared and it isthe movement and position of this rod which is made to co-operate' withthe operating mechanism of the counter in order to count the applesactually pared by the paring machine. Whenever an apple is forced ontoone of the forks 1, the core of it enters the hollow center of the fork.In doing so it forces the sliding rod .1. out of the front portion ofthe fork so that the rear thereof with the head 6 projects into the camgroove provided in the side of the apple paring machine. The

end of the sliding rod remains in this position until the apple ispeeled or pared and the apple is taken off from the fork. When this hastaken place and the frame 2 is rotated to allow another apple to beplaced onto the fork the end of the sliding rod is forced back into thefork by the inclined cam 8. In doing so the core of the apple is forcedout of the fork and is then ready to receive the next apple.

Only when an apple is placed onto the k s he and of the sl d ng r d frce out of the end of the fork and when therefore no apple is placedonto the fork the sliding rod remains inside of the fork and themovement of the paring machinedoes not operate the counter. The counter10 proper may be a stock counter and provided with a crank 11. illhiscrank is conne(cted by means of the the spring 12 to the swinging lever13 pivoted on the stud 14. The stud 14 and counter 10 are suitablysupported on the U shaped bracket 15 which in turn is clamped to theframe of the apple paring machine by means of the set screw 16. This setscrew is threaded into the side of the U shaped bracket and whentightened against the outside of the frame of the machine firmly clampsthe counter and its operating mechanism in place thereon.

The location of the counter on the paring machine is chosen withrelation to the path of the sliding rod as it is swung on the rota tionof the frame 2. The most suitable position on the type of machineillustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing is in front so that the slightlyrearwardly curved lever 13 projects into the path of the sliding rods ofthe rotating forks. For every revolution of the rotating frame 2 thecounter should therefore be operated twice providing an apple is placedon each of the forks, 1, 1. If only one apple is placed on the forksduring the revolution the counter is operated butonce, and if no appleis placed on the forks during the revolution the counter will not beoperated at all.

From the foregoing it will be seen that only when an apple is placed onthe forks of the paring machine will the counter be operated during theoperation of the apple paring machine. A; true count of the actualperformance of the machine and its operator is thus made possiblewithout having to actually watch the work of the operator.

We claim:

in an apple paring machine having a frame and having a plurality offorks, and having a rod mounted to slide within each of said forks andnormally contained therein and having a rotating frame carrying saidplurality of forks, said sliding rods being adapted to be forced out ofthe rear end of said forks when an apple is placed on the opposite endthereof, a U shaped bracket, a counter mounted on said bracket, a leverfor operating said counter, means for supporting said U shaped bracketto place said counter, operating lever into the path of the projectedends of said sliding rods.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

GEORGE B. FOX. JOE G. CHRISTIAN.

